CANYON, TEXAS – (RV) UT Tyler responded with three-straight set victories to defeat Texas A&M International (19-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-20) on Friday at the Lone Star Conference Crossover.
 
The Patriots picked up their first win of the weekend in the top LSC Crossover across the league thanks to 12 kills from a trio of Patriots in Brielle Worley, Shaye Koski and Jackie Velzis. Koski reached double-double figures alongside setter Adeline Ortman to round out the complete team performance on the afternoon.
 
Koski, Ortman and libero Addison Evans were key pieces to a strong defensive output for the Patriots that kicked it in gear after an opening set 25-19 loss to rattle off three straight victories. Koski paired her 12 kills with 15 digs, Ortman went for 23 assists and 11 digs, and Evans a team-high 23 digs.
 
That defense limited Texas A&M International to 10 or less kills in the final three sets of the match and allowed a Patriot offense that hit .194 in the match to find it's footing. UT Tyler went for kill totals of 16, 14 and 17 to compliment the defensive side of the net to move UT Tyler to 6-4 on the season.
 
Seven unanswered points for the Dustdevils coming out of the 11-10 mark in favor of the Patriots allowed Texas A&M International to secure the opening set victory.  UT Tyler gained control of the match from that point forward after the 25-19 first set loss, putting down 16 kills in the second frame to win a 25-19 decision of their own.
 
That offense kept rolling for the Patriots in the third set with the match tied 1-1, while the defense stiffened up in the later stages of the frame. Texas A&M International led 20-17 late in that frame, but an 8-1 run from UT Tyler flipped the set back in the hands of the Patriots with a 25-21 win.
 
Worley kick-started that run for the Patriots with kills in three out of the first four points and would go on to post a season-best 12 kills in the match. The Amarillo, Texas native hit .259 with those 12 kills on just 27 swings.
 
Set four started off in the Dustdevil's favor once again, before another string of unanswered late Patriot points late changed the course of the frame once again. UT Tyler trailed 16-13 before rattling off a run of seven straight and then closed out the set and the match with two more kills from Worley.
 
Velzis provided an efficient night offensively alongside Worley with 12 kills in 23 swings for a hitting percentage of .304. Ortman, who became the eighth Patriot in the history of the program to eclipse the 1,000 assist mark for her career on Thursday evening, teamed up with fellow setter Jenna White to notch 23 assists apiece.
 
UT Tyler won the kill-battle by a 58-to-41 margin, and out-dug the Dustdevils by a sizeable margin at 86-to-65 to display a balanced look of volleyball in their second match of the LSC Crossover.
 
Evans was steady once again from her libero position, notching a fourth straight outing with 20-plus digs with a team-high 23 on Friday. The New Braunfels, Texas product has settled into her role with noticeable consistency, and now ranks fifth in the Lone Star Conference with an average of 5.11 digs per set.
 
The Patriots return to the win column will set up a meeting with #2 West Texas A&M tomorrow afternoon on the Lady Buffs home floor. West Texas A&M has knocked UT Tyler out of the NCAA Division II National Tournament in each of the last two seasons and is off to a fast start in the defense of their 2022 NCAA DII National Championship.
 
That match is set for a 3 p.m. start and will serve as the final tune-up before Lone Star Conference play begins next weekend inside the Herrington Patriot Center.